Jumping toy

ABSTRACT

An animated doll is provided which is capable of jumping rope. This is accomplished by having a doll&#39;&#39;s body slide up and down on the upper projections of its legs and, when the body is at the uppermost position, having the legs snap upwardly quickly. The arms carrying the rope swing around a 360* arc which is synchronized with the movement of the legs so that the rope passes beneath the feet just as the legs snap upwardly and before the doll drops down again upon its feet. Improved action is obtained if the rope is stretchable and is hooked under the doll&#39;&#39;s toes and stretched before the doll jumps.

United States Patent [72] Inventors [2 l I' App] No. [)3 Filed [45] Patented [73] Assignee [54] JUMPING TOY 12 Claims, 15 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 46/120 [51] A63h 11/00 [50] Field of Search 46/] I6,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,594,649 8/1926 Trautmann 2,627,700 2/1953 Weiss 46/129 FOREIGN PATENTS 42,282 7/1887 Germany 46/129 Primary Examiner- Louis J. Mancene Amman! ljxamim'r-D. L. Wcinhold Al!0rney-Bryan, Parmelce, Johnson & Bollinger ABSTRACT: An animated doll is provided which is capable of jumping rope. This is accomplished by having a dolls body slide up and down on the upper projections of its legs and, when the body is at the uppermost position, having the legs snap upwardly quickly. The arms carrying the rope swing around a 360 arc which is synchronized with the movement of the legs so that the rope passes beneath the feet just as the legs snap upwardly and before the doll drops down again upon its feet. Improved action is obtained if the rope is stretchable and is hooked under the dolls toes and stretched before the doll jumps.

PATENTEDSEP 'HSTI 3,603,030

sum 1 m 4 FIGS FIG 1 A 30 FIG.4

. l3 INVENTORS FIG. 10 SFT'HQZ WA Z A ATTORNEYS PATENTEI] SEP H97! SHEEI 2 BF 4 mvsmores PHILIP 0. BART PETER J. WAZNYS WW3 PM 53 ATTORNEYS 4 INVENTORS PHILIP 0.5mm

- PETER J.WAZNYS BY 81] B F169 pf ll g ATTORNE S JUMPING TOY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION thepresent doll where only the legs jump into the body). See,

for example, Trautmann U.S. Pat. N 0. 1,594,649 and German Pat. No. 819,613. Other patents have shown the use of a slit in the rope so the doll doesnt actually jump, Sewnson U.S. Pat. No. 2,287,070; a doll being held and lifted at the side by an eccentric arrangement with supporting posts, Shek U.S. Pat. No. 606,900, Roberts U.S. Pat. No. 1,331,378 and German Pat.

No. 42,282; and dolls that are actually supported while a rope slips under them, French Pat. No. 144,525 and German Pat. No. 553,600.

The present structure, however, differs from any of the above in at least two respects:

1. The jump is only of the legs, not the entire body; so the body is at an elevated position and the legs jump into it, rather than having the body be in a lowered position, at the start of the jump, from which position the whole doll jumps up.

2. The rope may be hooked and stretched at the doll s toe so that it is under tension to quickly snap under the feet when the feet jump from the floor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A jumping motion is imparted to the feet of a doll by use of a mechanism which causes the legs to suddenly move upwardly into the body of the doll and so, because of inertia, cause the feet to momentarily leave the floor.

The jumping action is accomplished by having the legs stiff and adapted to slide inwardly. A coil spring tends to push the legs toward their innermost position in the body but is opposed by a cam within the doll which, during its rotation, pushes the legs outwardly. At the end of the cams rotation cycle there is a discontinuity in the cam surface which allows the spring to suddenly press the legs inwardly, thus lifting them off the floor. The spring force moves only the legs, not the entire body so a faster and higher jump results.

The arms carry the rope through a full circle or 360 arc. The movement of the arms is synchronized with the jumping motion so that the rope passes beneath the dolls feet just as the jump off the floor. The rope may be a steel wire or, in the modification of the invention an extensible coil spring. When it is a spring, it hooks on the toes before the jump and then snaps under the feet when they jump up.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, ll, 12 and 13 showone form of the invention. FIGS. 5, 6, 7, 8, and 15 show a modification of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the doll showing the rope being carried by the dolls arms.

FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 are simplified drawings to illustrate the nature of the motion by which the jumping is accomplished.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are simplified drawings (similar to FIGS. 2, 3, and 4) to illustrate the nature of the motion by which the rope passes under the feet of the doll during the jump.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing one foot and the rope, with the rope caught on the end of the foot, just before the jump, in the modification.

FIG. 8 is a section taken on line 88 of FIG. 6, showing the structure of the rope" in the modification.

FIG. 9 is a front view of the doll with the central body portion exposed to show the mechanism by which the doll operates.

FIG. 10 is a partial section taken on lines 10-10 of FIG. 9 to show details of the cam and yoke arrangement used to cause the jump.

FIGS. 11, 12, and 13 show the cam, leg and arm action of the doll and how it is used to control the jumping and motion of the skip rope. These figures correspond to the simplified FIGS. 2, 3 and 4.

FIGS. 14 and 15 are similar to the upper portions of FIG. 12 and 13, showing the action of the cam relative to the position of the arm, except relate to the modification of ourinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The doll 1 is generally depicted in FIG. 1. It has a body portion 2 and legs 3 with feet 4 and arms 5. The arms carry the skip rope 8 and are adapted, as will be described below, to rotate in a full circle carrying the rope 8. Rope 8 is best made out of a piece of fine wire which simulates a rope but gives stiffness and so improved operation. In the modification of FIG. 8, the body of the rope is a tightly wound extensible coil spring with stiffeners.

FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 show, in a simplified manner, the operation of the doll and so permit more ready explanation of the concepts. As will be seen in these figures the legs 3 are fitted within the body 2 so as to slide within the body in an up and down direction. Thus, for example, it will be noted that in FIG. 2 legs 3 extend farther into the body 2 than they do in FIG. 3.

The purpose of having the legs slide within the body is to provide a mechanical basis for the legs jumping." It is seen that the body 2 is lower and closer to the floor in FIG. 2 than it is in FIG. 3. As one goes from the position of FIG. 2 to the position of FIG. 3 the legs extend farther from the body thus hold the body farther from the floor.

FIG. 4 shows the actual jump. This is accomplished from the position of FIG. 3 by having the legs suddenly snap inwardly. The result of this quick inward snap is that the legs move upwardly faster than downward gravitational attraction moves the entire body, and so the feet are actually lifted off the floor. An instant after the position shown in FIG. 4 the doll has dropped to the floor and returned to the position of FIG. 2.

Synchronized with this jumping from the floor is the motion of the skip rope 8 itself. As shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, arms 5 rotate about a full 'arc from the shoulders and carry in the hands the rope itself. By adjusting the timing, in the manner described below, the rope passes beneath the feet just as legs 3 have been lifted from the floor (FIG. 4).

FIGS. 9 and 10 show the detail of the structure by which this jumping motion and the motion of the arms is accomplished. These figures show the doll just after it has jumped.

The legs 3 are secured to a yoke 12 which is mounted for longitudinal vertical movement within the body 2. Yoke 12 has an upwardly extending tongue 13. It is pressed upwardly by coil spring 15, the upper end of which presses against yoke 12 and the lower end of which presses against the battery box 16 which is mounted within body 2 and fixedly secured to body 2. Coil spring 15 is selected such that the force exerted by the sudden release of its stored energy is of sufficient rapidity and magnitude to cause the legs to move upwardly into the body of the doll faster than downward gravitational attraction moves the entire body. Battery box 16 carries batteries l7 and is surrounded by yoke 18. For purposes of best inertia control, body 2 should be of greater weight than the leg portion, and therefore the batteries should be part of the body portion, not part of the leg portion. Yoke 12 goes outside battery box 16 toreach legs 3.

The arms 5 from the doll are fixedly mounted on a shaft 20 that runs between the shoulders of the doll and interconnects the arms. The mounting is such that rotation of shaft 20causes arms 5 to rotate together. Motion of the arms is produced by motor 25, which is connected through reducing gear train 26 to shaft 20. Thus when the motor 25 is operated it rotates the gears of the train 26 which in turn rotate shaft 20.- This causes the arms 5 to be rotated in a full circle about the body, carrying the rope 8.

Also mounted on shaft 20 and directly above tongue 13 is a cam 30. Cam 30 has a surface 31 which has a narrow radius at the beginning of the cycle and as the cam rotates on the shaft (clockwise in the direction of the arrow in FIGS. 11, 12 and 13). The radius gradually increases until the maximum diameter is reached at point 32. There is then a sharp discontinuity 33 in the surface leading to the portion of the most narrow radius. Since yoke 12 and tongue 13 are spring pressed upwardly toward cam surface 31 by spring 15, the end 14 of the tongue 13 will follow the surface of cam 31, and tongue 13 will move upwardly and downwardly in accordance with the position of the cam.

Thus it can be seen that, as the cam rotates clockwise, tongue 13 will be pressed, and move downwardly until the end of the cycle, point 32 on surface 31, is reached. This downward pressure will serve to push the legs downwardly relative to the body. Since, however, the feet are on the floor, the downward pressure on the legs serves to raise body 2 to a higher position, such as shown in FIG. 3. As soon as the discontinuity 33 is passed, tongue 13, being spring pressed upwardly will quickly snap upwardly against the narrow radius portion of cam 30, rapidly raising the legs.

At the same time that cam 30 is rotating on shaft 20, arms and rope 8 are likewise rotating on shaft 20. If the arms are positioned on the shaft relative to the cam 30 such that rope 8 passes beneath the feet 4 of the doll just after the legs have snapped upwardly, and before the doll has again dropped to the floor, there will be proper synchronization and the jumping effect will succeed.

' The modified form of this invention is shown in FIGS. 5, 6, 7, 8, l4, and 15. FIGS. 5 and 6 are similar to FIGS. 3 and 4, the principal difference being that the doll is designed and synchronized such that the legs do not jump upwardly just before the arms reach a position where the rope would pass underthe feet, but jump just after that arm position. This is possible because the rope is made of stretchable material, is slightly shorter, and the configuration of the toes is such that the rope may catch on the toes just before the feet jump upwardly.

In FIG. 5 it will be seen that, though the arms have reached their downward vertical position, the doll has not yet jumped.

Rather, the end of the rope 9 has caught on the dolls toes 6 and the rope has had to stretch as the arms have continued to rotate. FIG. 6 shows the doll in the air having just jumped. The jumping motion of the feet 4 just lifted them quickly upwardly out of engagement with the rope, which because the tension previously applied to it now snaps under the feet. It should be noted that, at the time of jumping, the arms were slightly to the rear of their most downward position, applying tension to the rope. Because of the use of this tension, the rope can pass more quickly under the feet as the toy jumps.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the shoe 4 just as the rope engages with it. The arms 5, though not shown, would be in the position shown in FIG. 5. The rope is engaged with the angular upturned lower portion 6 of the toes. This angle on the toes is substantially perpendicular to the direction of the rope. Because of this angle of toes, when the feet jump upwardly the toes will quickly move out of engagement with the rope, allowing it to slip backwardly.

FIG. 8 is a section of the rope" 8 as used in the modification. Preferably the sides 7 and bottom 11 are a very fine coil spring, and so extensible. Within the spring on the sides is a stiff wire, used so that the rope remains in its proper place and configuration as the arms rotate through the full are. As the spring in stretched, however, through engagement with the toes, the lower portion having no wire may stretch and, if necessary, the portion of the spring along the sides may slide along the stiff wire.

OPERATION OF THE DOLL Operation of the doll, using the structure shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and'4 is best seen in the drawings of FIGS. 11, 12 and 13. These show the essential elements of the internal structure of the doll to show the relative action of the lets and body, as

governed by the cam structure. FIGS. 11, 12 and I3 substantially correspond in this position with FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 respectively. The structure of FIG. 5 is used in both designs of the doll but has the angle of cam 30 slightly different relative to the arm position in the two versions.

In FIG. 11 the doll has just completed a jump and the body is in a low position relative to the ground. Spring 15 is in its expanded position and yoke 12 and tongue 13 are in their upper position because cam 30 is at the portion of its cycle where the narrowest radius is downward against tongue 13. The arms 5 and rope 8 are slightly behind the doll having just passed beneath the feet. They are moving in a clockwise are as shown in these figures. The feet 4 are resting on the floor.

As shaft 20 continues to rotate, driven by motor 25 and gear train 26, two things happen; first, the arms 5 and rope 8 move up over the dolls head and start downwardly in front of the doll; and, second, the surface of cam 30, where it touches the top of tongue 13, starts having a larger radius and so cam surface 31 presses tongue 13 and yoke 12 away from it. This serves to raise the body which is being supported by tongue 13 and cam 30, and it also extends legs 3 from the body and compresses a spring 15. The effect is to raise the body higher off the floor than in the original position (compare FIGS. 11 and 12 in this respect). The amount of motion of the body is not very great, somewhat exaggerated in the drawings for the purpose of illustration, and would be about a -inch increase in height on an 18 inch doll. Thus it probably is not even noticed by the child.

As the arms and cam continue to rotate from the position shown in FIG. 12, in due course the end of the cam surface 31 is reached, tongue 13 slips off the end of the surface, and, pressed by spring 15 jumps upward rapidly carrying with it the attached legs 3. The legs are then momentarily off the floor while the body 2 remains in a substantially fixed position for an instant. Rope 8 carried by arms 5 and properly synchronized, then passes beneath the feet 4 of the doll before the weight of the entire doll drops by gravity and the feet again rest on the floor. The cycle is again repeated beginning with the position shown in FIG. 1 1.

It should be noted that, since the relative inertia of body 2 and legs 3 somewhat affects the operation, it is preferable that the body 2 and its associated parts which jump have greater inertia than the legs.

Turning to the modified from of the invention, the operation is shown in FIGS. 5, 6, 7, 8, 14 and 15. In almost all respects the operation is the same as previously described. The difference is that the doll does not jump prior to the arms reaching the position where the rope would pass under the feet during the jump, and the rope itself is extensible and catches on the toes of the doll.

Thus the relationship between the position of cam 30 and the position of arms 5 is such that the arms have passed through their lowest position and are staring to move backwardly when the cam radius causes yoke 13 to jump upwardly, that is when the widest portion 32 of cam 30 is reached and the yoke slips off the edge 33 (see FIG. 10).

When the lower portion 9 of rope 8 reaches the toe 6 it catches on it, and can move no further. The arms, however, continue to rotate and so stretch the rope and create tension in it. After the arms have moved slightly beyond their lowest point and are moving rearwardly, yoke 13 slips on cam 30 causing the feet to jump upwardly. The relationship between the position of the arms 5 and cam 30 in this modification is shown in FIGS. 14 and 15.

Upon the jumping of the doll the foot lifts upwardly out of engagement with the end of rope 8 allowing the tension on rope 8 to be released by a rearward motion of the rope under the feet. This is a quick snapping action and gets the rope under the feet much more quickly than would occur in the structure of FIGS. 2, 3 and 4.

The preferred form of this invention has been described above. Modifications in the structure may be made using the same concept without departing from the spirit of the invention What is claimed is:

1. A doll adapted to jump rope with a realistic movement of 7 its arms and legs, comprising a self-supporting doll, said doll including a body portion, legs longitudinally slidable in said body portion and shaped to support the doll, a jump rope, arms carrying said jump rope, said arms being pivotally connected at the shoulders of said body portion for rotation about a full 360 are, means located in the body portion for rotating said arms through said arc, means located in said body portion in cooperative relationship therewith for reciprocatingly moving said legs longitudinally relative to said body, said leg-moving means including means operating in synchronization with the arm-rotating means for suddenly moving said legs inwardly into said body when said rope is poised to pass under the legs, said legs having a lower weight than the weight of the remainder of the doll, whereby said legs move upwardly more rapidly than said body portion moves downwardly and said legs are momentarily lifted from the floor to allow said rope to pass thereunder.

2. A doll as set forth in claim 1 in which said means for mov ing said legs suddenly inwardly include a spring located to spring bias said legs inwardly and a rotating cam located to oppose the action of said spring, said cam having a discontinuity shaped to release the spring bias and enable the legs to suddenly move inwardly into said body portion.

3. A doll as set forth in claim 1 in which said rope is stretchable with said legs being provided with means for catching said rope on the lower extremities of said legs, and with said synchronization selected to cause said legs to jump after said arm actuated rope has caught on said extremities, whereby tension is caused in said rope just before the upward jump of the legs to enable said rope to snap rapidly past underneath said legs during said jump.

4. A doll as set forth in claim 3 in which said catching means is formed of an upwardly inclined surface forwardly facing the approaching rotated rope to catch said rope.

5. A self-supporting toy capable of jumping clear of the floor so that an object can quickly pass beneath it, including a body, supporting legs mounted on the body for vertical sliding motion relative to said body, feet at the lower ends of said legs for resting on said floor, means located within said body for raising said body on said legs while said feet are on said floor, and said means including additional means for suddenly retracting said legs into said body, the relative weights of said body and said legs and feet being such that, upon said sudden retraction, said feet rise faster than said body falls whereby said feet lift off said floor effecting a jumping motion.

6. A toy as set forth in claim 5 in which said legs are spring pressed upwardly relative to said body and a cam is positioned within said body in operative association with the upper portions of said legs to control the position thereof relative to said body.

7. A toy as set forth in claim 5 in which said body is the body of a doll, said body including arms and hands carrying a jump rope and pivotally connected to said body for arcuate movement, and means to rotate said arms and said rope about said body in synchronism with said jumping motion whereby said doll jumps said rope as said toy is operated.

8. A rope jumping self-supporting doll including a body, supporting legs, arms and hands, a motor in said body, said arms being interconnected with said motor for rotational movement about said body, and a jump rope carried by said hands, said legs being slidably mounted within the lower portions of said body for vertical movement relative to said body and longitudinally of said legs, means located within said body for reciprocatingly sliding said legs within said body, said means including additional means for causing said legs to move suddenly upward relative to said body, said motion of said arms being synchronized with said sudden upward motion whereby a jumping effect is created and said doll jumps over said rope.

9. A doll as set forth in claim 8 in which the weight of said bodg and said arms is greater than the wei ht of said legs.

1 A doll as set forth in claim 8 in w ich said means for sliding said legs within said body and for causing said legs to move suddenly upward include a spring pressing said legs upwardly and a cam surface associated with the upper end of said legs opposing said upward motion, said cam surface having a discontinuity thereon.

11. A doll as set forth in claim 8 in which said rope is stretchable and including a stop located on the legs and shaped to catch, and hold said rope prior to said jump to stretch the rope as said arms are rotated so that the tension in said rope will cause more rapid motion under said legs upon a jump thereof.

12. In a doll adapted to jump rope by sudden lifting of its feet upwardly from the floor and having rotating arms, the improvement including a stretchable jump rope rotated by the arms and stop means on said feet to engage said jump rope prior to the lifting of said feet and produce tension in said jump rope prior to said feet lifting, said stop means being located to release the jump rope upon a lifting of the feet for continued rotation of the jump rope. 

1. A doll adapted to jump rope with a realistic movement of its arms and legs, comprising a self-supporting doll, said doll including a body portion, legs longitudinally slidable in said body portion and shaped to support the doll, a jump rope, arms carrying said jump rope, said arms being pivotally connected at the shoulders of said body portion for rotation about a full 360* arc, means located in the body portion for rotating said arms through said arc, means located in said body portion in cooperative relationship therewith for reciprocatingly moving said legs longitudinally relative to said body, said leg-moving means including means operating in synchronization with the armrotating means for suddenly moving said legs inwardly into said body when said rope is poised to pass under the legs, said legs having a lower weight than the weight of the remainder of the doll, whereby said legs move upwardly more rapidly than said body portion moves downwardly and said legs are momentarily lifted from the floor to allow said rope to pass thereunder.
 2. A doll as set forth in claim 1 in which said means for moving said legs suddenly inwardly include a spring located to spring bias said legs inwardly and a rotating cam located to oppose the action of said spring, said cam having a discontinuity shaped to release the spring bias and enable the legs to suddenly move inwardly into said body portion.
 3. A doll as set forth in claim 1 in which said rope is stretchable with said legs being provided with means for catching said rope on the lower extremities of said legs, and with said synchronization selected to cause said legs to jump after said arm actuated rope has caught on said extremities, whereby tension is caused in said rope just before the upward jump of the legs to enable said rope to snap rapidly past underneath said legs during said jump.
 4. A doll as set forth in claim 3 in which said catching means is formed of an upwardly inclined surface forwardly facing the approaching rotated rope to catch said rope.
 5. A self-supporting toy capable of jumping clear of the floor so that an object can quickly pass beneath it, including a body, supporting legs mounted on the body for vertical sliding motion relative to said body, feet at the lower ends of said legs for resting on said floor, means located within said body for raising said body on said legs while said feet are on said floor, aNd said means including additional means for suddenly retracting said legs into said body, the relative weights of said body and said legs and feet being such that, upon said sudden retraction, said feet rise faster than said body falls whereby said feet lift off said floor effecting a jumping motion.
 6. A toy as set forth in claim 5 in which said legs are spring pressed upwardly relative to said body and a cam is positioned within said body in operative association with the upper portions of said legs to control the position thereof relative to said body.
 7. A toy as set forth in claim 5 in which said body is the body of a doll, said body including arms and hands carrying a jump rope and pivotally connected to said body for arcuate movement, and means to rotate said arms and said rope about said body in synchronism with said jumping motion whereby said doll jumps said rope as said toy is operated.
 8. A rope jumping self-supporting doll including a body, supporting legs, arms and hands, a motor in said body, said arms being interconnected with said motor for rotational movement about said body, and a jump rope carried by said hands, said legs being slidably mounted within the lower portions of said body for vertical movement relative to said body and longitudinally of said legs, means located within said body for reciprocatingly sliding said legs within said body, said means including additional means for causing said legs to move suddenly upward relative to said body, said motion of said arms being synchronized with said sudden upward motion whereby a jumping effect is created and said doll jumps over said rope.
 9. A doll as set forth in claim 8 in which the weight of said body and said arms is greater than the weight of said legs.
 10. A doll as set forth in claim 8 in which said means for sliding said legs within said body and for causing said legs to move suddenly upward include a spring pressing said legs upwardly and a cam surface associated with the upper end of said legs opposing said upward motion, said cam surface having a discontinuity thereon.
 11. A doll as set forth in claim 8 in which said rope is stretchable and including a stop located on the legs and shaped to catch, and hold said rope prior to said jump to stretch the rope as said arms are rotated so that the tension in said rope will cause more rapid motion under said legs upon a jump thereof.
 12. In a doll adapted to jump rope by sudden lifting of its feet upwardly from the floor and having rotating arms, the improvement including a stretchable jump rope rotated by the arms and stop means on said feet to engage said jump rope prior to the lifting of said feet and produce tension in said jump rope prior to said feet lifting, said stop means being located to release the jump rope upon a lifting of the feet for continued rotation of the jump rope. 